14 DAY TRIAL // During a televised interview at Carnegie Hall in New York City (as part of the Japan NYC festival), Sony CEO, Sir Howard Stringer indirectly revealed that Apple’s iPhone 5 is getting image sensors from the PlayStation maker.
Regarded as confirmation of the rumored delay of the iPhone 5, Stringer reportedly told WSJ tech columnist Walt Mossberg that Sony’s camera facility in Sendai (Japan) was affected by the tsunami, and that getting image sensors to Apple will be delayed.
Sony is not known to be manufacturing any image sensors for Apple, yet recent rumors that Cupertino was firing Omnivision as its camera supplier would support Stringer’s claims.
But the statement alone should act as confirmation that this is, indeed, the case.
Quoted in a post by 9to5mac, Stringer reportedly said: “Our best senor technology is built in one of the (tsunami) affected factories. Those go to Apple for their iPhones…or iPads. Isn’t that something? They buy our best sensors from us?”
We wouldn’t assume Stringer didn’t have his facts right when speaking at Carnegie Hall yesterday, nor does this look like anyone’s idea of an April Fools’ gag,
Perhaps it is worth noting that a report by The Street in April 2010 claimed that Apple’s fifth generation iPhone would ship with an 8 megapixel camera from Sony.
In the same report, it was predicted that a 5 megapixel sensor was aimed at the iPhone 4, which turned out to be true.
Not that it wasn’t an easy guess, but it is worth mentioning now that Stringer has come out with these claims.
Stringer also reportedly made a point of the irony that his company was supplying cameras for Apple gadgets, saying, "It always puzzles me. Why would I make Apple the best camera?"
Contacted for clarification (after the interview), both Sony and Apple declined to make any comments.
The March 11 earthquake in Japan has reportedly prompted Apple to take radical new approaches in sourcing the necessary components to build its latest iPad and the upcoming iPhone 5 - the main factor supporting the iPhone 5 delay.
This has reportedly caused Apple to scramble operations, one of which likely involves this deal with Sony.